Love Through Bonds
by night.nerd
Summary: When Stefan reveals shocking information to Elena regarding her relationship to Damon, Elena and Damon are forced to reevaluate what has been happening between them and come to some shocking realizations. *Contains several spoilers for 4x07, My Brother's Keeper*


"Elena. We need to talk." Stefan is standing in the doorway, his brow furrowed in concern.

I hover behind the door, balancing it between opened and closed hesitantly. "I don't think we do."

He steps closer. "Yes, we do." He proceeds into the room and I trail behind him wordlessly. His deep brown eyes scan the area, trying to locate something, or rather someone. "Is Damon here?"

"Does that matter?"

Stefan turns to face me, taking my face in his familiar hands. "Yes." I immediately step back from him, leaving his hands cupped around nothing but air. He drops them to his sides but stays facing me, his expression masked.

"No. Damon's not here." The disappointment in my voice is unmistakable, and Stefan's face contorts in slight repulsion. After a lingering silence, I demand, "What do you want Stefan?"

"You need to know something Elena. You are going to deny it, I know that, but I need you to listen and think. I'm not asking you to do anything but just think about it." He takes a deep breath before blurting, "You are sired to Damon."

I instantly begin shaking my head in denial. "No, I'm not. I would be able to tell if I was."

"Would you though? Could you really tell if the sire bond was clouding your judgment?"

"It's not though," I insist.

The volume of his voice rises. "Yes, it is! You are _sired_ to him Elena. You do everything he tells you to. When he told you that you could only drink blood straight from the vein, it was true for the first time in all vampire history. You killed Connor because he told you to."

"No," I tell Stefan, quickly becoming agitated. "That's not what is happening. The reason I couldn't drink from blood bags or animal blood probably has to do with the doppelganger part of me. I killed Connor because he was hurting Jeremy. Neither of those things has to do with Damon."

"I knew Katherine, Elena. She didn't have any problems drinking blood bags, though she preferred human blood, and she was from the same doppelganger lineage as you are. Even if he was hurting Jeremy, you wouldn't have killed him. It is in your nature to be compassionate."

"I'm not that Elena anymore!" I exclaim before pausing and taking a deep breath. "I'm not sired to Damon."

There is a subtle movement by the door as Damon emerges from the shadows. "Can you give us a moment?" he says, directing the question at Stefan. The words are polite, but the underlying tone is venomous. Stefan curtly nods once before retreating through the door. There is the muted sound of a car door slamming and an engine coming to life, and over the course of a couple minutes, the sounds gradually fade out.

"Elena," he murmurs, stepping close to me. Like Stefan, he takes my face in his hands and gently tilts it up until I am looking into his sapphire eyes. "I need you to listen to me." I nod slowly and his tone takes on a soft effect. "You are sired to me."

I remain quiet but thoughts race through my head as I attempt to comprehend his words. "What does that mean?" I breathe, memories of the last couple of days racing through my head.

His concerned eyes study my tense expression, taking in the deep lines framing my features. "First of all, don't worry about it." Immediately, I feel my muscles relax and a calming sensation cascades over me.

"How long have you known?" I ask tentatively.

"Since you completed transition."

My eyes widen as the shocking information embeds itself in my thoughts. "Why didn't you tell me?"

He pauses, allowing his mind to think through the question before he begins his response. "I was going to tell you but the right opportunity never presented itself."

"What does that mean for us then?" My mind reels through the memories of the past few days.

"I don't know." His voice falters, as if in thought, before retaining its usual confidence. "There's something else you should know Elena. Blood sharing is personal because it creates a bond between the two people. We also share that bond along with the sire bond." His thumb absentmindedly strokes my cheek, tracing small circles.

Words escape me as I try to analyze the situation. "I…" I stammer before starting again. "Why didn't you tell me this?"

His emotionless expression flickers and one of honesty replaces it. "I hoped that it wouldn't affect anything but obviously it did. By the time I realized that, too many things had already happened and you were caught up in the moment."

"It didn't affect anything," I mumble, my gaze shying away from his.

He nods, his face once again masked with impassive demeanor but his eyes expressive. "Yes, it did. You may not see it Elena, but I do. You've changed and I'm the cause of it. Our relationship has changed. The sire bond and blood bond are the source of these changes."

"No, it isn't," I insist.

"They alter your emotions. They change how you think."

I shake my head. "No. This goes back further than transition Damon. These changes began a couple of months ago when Stefan was with Klaus and it as just you and me. I admit I was having difficulties with my feelings, especially concerning you. I did feel something, but when I was turned, that all intensified."

"Your feelings for Stefan should have intensified too," Damon interjects.

"They did. But when I turned, I changed into a different person and Stefan did too, as a result of that. He didn't trust me anymore and I felt like I couldn't trust him. Then you showed up and you knew exactly how to fix all the situations-"

"Through the sire bond," he interrupts.

"No. You've always been able to fix them. I suppose I just never realized it. Damon, please believe me when I say that this isn't through any special bond. The sire bond and the blood bond only intensified how I felt before. You didn't force me to feel anything, meaning that my feelings are all my own. They are stronger because of the bonds, but still my own." He remains silent as my thoughts delve into past memories. "I… I love you Damon. Nothing has changed that or ever will."

"I love you too Elena." Simultaneously, we surge forward and meet one another in a passionate kiss. In that moment, I realize that every word I said was true. I may be sired to Damon and I may have a blood bond to Damon, but that never affected the fact that I love him and it never will.

* * *

**Author's Note: **After last night's episode (My Brother's Keeper, 4x07), I immediately felt horrified that everything that happened between my perfect Delena ship was most likely a fake because of the sire bond. I needed a way to convince myself that this isn't the end of Delena and I ended up doing that through a fanfiction. This was my therapy, in a way. Now I only have to wait six more days to see how it actually turns out. Wish me and my mental state luck.

(Update! 12/1/12: I just found a quote that makes me feel a zillion times better about the entire situation and I thought I would share it with you: "Q: It's definitely alarming for fans who have been waiting to see Damon and Elena get together for them to finally hook up, but have it be intercut with evidence that her feelings for him might not be genuine. Is there still hope that her feelings for him are real?  
A by Julie Plec: Without taking sides one way or the other, just looking at it objectively from our point of view as storytellers, there is more hope than ever for them. It's just combined with a lot of very deep questions. Damon is a character who, his whole life - as a vampire and as a human - was looking for love and acceptance, and for someone to finally say, "Hey, you're good enough." He finally gets that from Elena, and now he has to question it. He wants to believe it's real. She truly believes it's real. But there's that nagging doubt, as to how much of it is true love and how much is the effects of a sire bond. It's a question that's going to take these two people who do care about each other so deeply, and just put the tiniest bit of an obstacle in their path. They have to figure out how to get around it." I just thought that the quote may help a couple of you get through the week and the waiting for the new episode. Good luck!)

Anyways, I hope you enjoyed! Please leave a review! Remember, what takes me hours to write only takes you seconds to review!

~NN


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